Battle For The Future
by castlet0pia
Summary: *AU – When an intergalactic detective Kate Beckett gets kidnapped by the ruler of planet Pelagus, her father begs a famous starship racer Richard Castle to save her. Will he be able to help her before someone else gets their hands on her? - give it a chance, the story's much better. :
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, everyone! Um, I know that I have a bunch of uncompleted projects/stories still going on, but I couldn't just NOT share this idea with you guys. This is an AU story and characters may be OOC and a lot of things will be missing, but a lot of things will be the same. I won't have time to write much, so I'll get chapters up as soon as I finish them, but I can't tell you I'll update every week, because I surely won't.**

**Here's some facts:**

**- This idea first popped into my head when I downloaded a game where you have to fly flying cars around (I really have no idea, hahah)  
- I started writing this 14 hours ago at 1 AM, after watching Serenity. **

**- For how the characters look, think of Serenity and Firefly, yeah. **

**- I won't be including Firefly references in here.**

**Well...I really hope you guys like it. I do realize that not everybody likes Sci-Fi stories and I get it, I understand those people. But for me, it's just an escape from the reality and it's beautiful and I've wanted to do this for a long time and now I'm finally doing it. **

**I hope you guys like it. (:**

* * *

**CHAPTER 1**

Richard Castle sat in his living room, drinking a bottle of beer and just relaxing. When he retired (at the age of 40, _not that old_), he did it because there was simply too much pressure – from the fans and his family and his team. He wanted some space for himself and damn it, was that really that hard to get?

He was just mentally deciding if he should go out tonight or not, when he heard the doorbell ring. He grumbled and got up, pulled on one of his old, ragged t-shirts and ran a hand through his hair before looking at the screen next to the door to see who was behind the door. There stood a man, presumably in his sixties, with grey and disheveled hair. He looked on edge, like he was in a hurry. Richard opened the door and leaned his forearm on it, took a sip of his drink as the man's eyes stared at his.

"Umm…Excuse me for interrupting, I would like to speak with Richard Castle." The man balanced a big black leather bag on one of his shoulders while the other pressed into his chest.

"This is him," Richard replied and took another sip of the beer. It was now warm already, especially with the heat wave that consumed the city just a few days ago. He made a face at the too-warm liquid scorching down his throat and deposited the bottle on the table near the door. When he looked back at the man, he was holding the bag open in front of him, hundreds of bills filling the space.

"What the hell," Richard mumbled and stepped closer to the man, his eyes jumping from the bag to the man's eyes.

"I need your help. I can pay you. I only have $15 000, but I hope it will suffice, because I really need your help, please." Richard stared dumbly at the man and narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"Is this some kind of a bad joke? Or am I on one of those tv-shows where they prank famous people just so that others can get a kick out of it?"

"No, I'm afraid not. Please, I'm…I'm desperate and you're my only chance, I wouldn't be bothering you if I wasn't so desperate."

"What do you need my help with?" The old man shuffled nervously and ran a hand through his hair.

"Can I – can I come in? It's not – I'd rather not risk someone overhearing this." Richard looked skeptically at the man and then stepped aside to let him in. The old man put down his duffel bag and turned to face his host.

"Thank you, I'm –"

"Wow, easy there, sir. First of all, I have not agreed to do anything just yet. I don't even know your name and –"

"Jim. Jim Beckett. Please, I just need her back, I have to get her back, _please_."

"Okay, Jim, nice to meet you, I'm Richard Castle, but you – you've probably already knew that." Jim nodded and sighed.

"Look, I'm really sorry to bother you with this, but it's important and we don't have much time."

"Can you just start from the beginning? I'm kind of lost here. And please, sit." Jim sat down on the couch and Richard sat in front of him on the coffee table.

"I have a daughter Kate and she is an intergalactic detective. You'd like her, she's – she's smart and funny and beautiful."

"That's nice."

"Anyway, three days ago, she went on an undercover mission to planet Pelagus. You've probably heard about its ruler Crimonti who's hosting races there and pays the winner with a woman he kidnaps. Well, that's the case Kate was working on, so she went undercover as a worker in the kitchen of Crimonti's house, but Crimonti was fascinated with her from the very start, so he picked _her _as his new conquest to give away at the next race, which is in four days."

"I'm sorry to hear that, sir, but what exactly are you expecting _me_ to do here?" He had an idea or two about what the man could ask of him, but…no.

"I need you to go and race and win and get Kate back home." Aha! He _knew_.

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I can't do that, Mr. Beckett."

"Please, I'm – I'm desperate, I don't know what to do if you don't accept."

"I can't accept it. I've stopped racing, you know that," Richard told him and stood up, took another bear bottle out of the fridge.

"Couldn't you make an exception?"

"I can't just go there and risk my life for a woman I don't even know. You know what happens to the losers," he spat out, unintentionally snapped. He took a sip of the cold beverage, then shut his eyes. He hated leaving this man like this and leaving his daughter (Kate, right?) like this, but he swore to himself that he's never going to race again.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry about your daughter and everything, but I can't."

"Why?"

"Why can't the intergalactic police do something? They have money and army and weapons, they could storm Crimonti's place, get your daughter back and arrest him at the same time."

"It's not that simple," Jim fired back, now getting angry himself, apparently.

"Why not? I'm not going to be their crutch now. If they can't help her, well, so can't I," he stated, his tone harsh, and opened the front door.

"I'm asking you very politely to leave, Mr. Beckett."

"You don't know what you're doing."

"Oh yes, I know damn well what I'm doing. I'm sorry about Kate, okay? I really am. But you've no right to just come at my place, dangle some money in front of my face and expect me to accept a suicide mission. I may be the world's best racer, but I am _not _an intergalactic champion." He was slightly out of breath once he finished, and the man in front of him was all crumpled and looked ten times older than he did when Richard first opened his door.

"Well, I guess there's just nothing I can say, is there?" Richard shook his head, looked down at his feet, feeling ashamed for letting this man down for a moment.

"Do you have a daughter, Mr. Castle?" Richard's eyes snapped up at the man's question, but he didn't say a thing, didn't even nod.

"You do, don't you? I think I've read about her somewhere." His fists clenched by his sides as he remembered what the tabloids said about his beautiful daughter.

"Think about what all you would have been prepared to go through if _she _was the one whose independence, whose freedom, whose life depended on a stupid race. Would you be prepared to do anything?" With those words, the man left his house and drove away in an old blue car.

* * *

Richard had thought about it a lot. He couldn't rip the image of his own daughter in the hands of Crimonti out of his head. He threw the almost-empty bottle in the wall, the brown glass shattering against it.

_Damn it._

The man said his daughter's name was Kate.

"Kate," he tried it on his tongue and it sounded beautifully. Why was she haunting him when he didn't even know how she looked like?

"Are you talking to yourself again, dad?" He looked towards the front door to see his daughter standing there, taking her shoes off.

"Alexis," he breathed, stood up and almost ran over to her, wrapped her in his arms.

She was safe, she was okay.

"Dad, are you alright?" He shook his head against hers and sighed heavily.

"No, I'm not. I feel awful."

* * *

"Dad, are you going to go?"

"I don't know sweetie. I've stopped racing and if I lose that race, I lose my life. But I can't just leave her there, I can't just let her down like that."

"You don't even know her."

"I know. But I have this feeling, you know. It feels like I'm supposed to go there and save her, but I don't know if I can."

"Don't go risking your life for someone you don't even know, dad. Please. Think about me." Richard buried his head in his daughter's hair and exhaled shakily.

"Exactly. What if it were you instead of Kate? What would I do if your life depended on me?"

"But that's different."

"I know. I just…All my life I've done nothing but show off and race and I don't think I ever did something really big for someone. I thought I had given up on racing, but that's my life. It's who I am. I need to go there. I need to save her. She's my only choice of forgiveness."

"I don't want you to go."

"I know, pumpkin."

* * *

**I realize that Castle is a bit out OOC here, but this is what I need for this story to work. **

**Also, there are a few things I would like to explain before we go to another chapter:**

**- Think that Castle and Kate are looking the same as in season four. Maybe Castle with a little less weight, but okay.**

**- Castle is a world champion in starship racing, but think of starships as flying cars, okay? Okay. **

**- The rules of the race/battle that Castle should participate in to rescue Kate will be in the next chapter.**

**- Intergalactic police is somehow a mix of CIA, FBI and MI6 and every other agencies that catch criminals, just that it works throughout the galaxies. **

**- Castle's character is a mix of Castle from season 1 and Castle from season 4.**

**I think that's it for now. If anyone doesn't understand something, PM me. (:**

- Ariela 


	2. Chapter 2

**As I predicted, there wasn't a lot of response for this story, and I knew that when I started to write it, because people obviously like reading romantic stories than sci-fi stories. But let me tell you, guys...There'll be PLENTY of romance in here. We just have to get there first. (;**

**Hope you like it. (: **

* * *

**CHAPTER 2**

She was falling down from the sky towards the ground. There was molten lava all around her and she falling towards it and there was no one there to save her. And then, out of the blue, she felt a hand grip her wrist and she was pulled up onto a starship. There was a man standing in front of her, his hand strong and hot on her wrist. His thumb stroked over her pulse as he stepped closer and just before she could make out his face, she woke up from her dream, gasping. She clutched her wrist with her hand and tried to calm down her breathing.

Who w_as _he?

"Kate!" She closed her eyes at the sound of Crimonti's voice and peeled the covers off of her, stood up to walk to her 'master's' bedroom.

"Yes, Sir?" Crimonti was lying on his bed, eating his breakfast. Eggs and ham. That was his constant and just because of that, Kate started to hate these two things.

"You probably know already that I have chosen you to be the new conquest." Kate clenched her teeth and nodded.

"Yes, Sir."

"You know the rules of the game?"

"Yes, Sir," she answered, growing more furious by second. Yes, she _knew _them, what with being an intergalactic detective and all. She knew every single rule and she despised them, despised the man, who was lying in front of her.

"Tell them to me."

"Rule one: Participants can be men or women from ages 18-50. The prize for the winner is a woman, chosen by his majesty. Losers, which have not conquered the first place in the battle, are sentenced to death with drowning in seas of Pelagus. The winner also gets a house on Pelagus and is released from any debts he may have.

Rule two: Participants in the Battle of Galaxies are to come to his majesty's palace a day before the race; each of them gets a few minutes alone with the prize, but touching more than just the prize's hand is not allowed; anyone who does the opposite of what they're told are thrown to the dogs of Pelagus.

Rule three: The starships participating in the battle must not be bigger than his majesty's smallest starship and the teams on the starships must not be formed of more than 10 people.

Rule four: Weapons on the starships are allowed, but not with more fire power than the army's smallest battleship.

Rule five: The participants who want to have the prize teleported to their starship to keep them company, have to race the stadium of Pelagus without crashing into anything more than three times; participants who crash more than three times are to be executed, those who pass the race are the ones that the prize can decide between. She can either choose her company herself, or his majesty decides upon whom she will be sent to. The prize has to carry a teleporting device, which can transfer her to his majesty's palace immediately, if her life is in great danger; that includes the starship, which she is on, exploding, crashing with a great force in blunt objects that can cause damage, or being shot down.

Rule six: If his majesty finds out that one of the participants is a secret intergalactic agent, the race is not canceled. The agent though, has to win the race, so that he can be released from Pelagus. If he loses, he dies. If he dies, he dies.

Rule seven: No family members of the prize are allowed to participate in the battle.

Rule eight: If the prize does not want to be with the winner of the race, then she can choose between the winner and his majesty.

Rule nine: The battle lasts for three days,. The participants can choose either to rest at night or race, but weapons are not allowed to be used then. Anyone who disobeys is to be executed." When she finished, Crimonti applauded and nodded his head enthusiastically.

"Yes, yes. That was very good." She gave him a nod and dug her fingers into her palm. She hated him. She hated this place and she hated the battle, she hated everything. But she was here for justice. And she wanted justice for this just as much as she wanted it for her mother. Maybe a bit less, but still. She hated Crimonti for killing this many people just for his own fun.

"I can assure you, Kate, that being the prize in The Battle is nothing to be ashamed of or being sad because of it. You must accept this title now and if you're lucky, you'll get a winner who's not even that bad. If you don't like him, you can always choose me, and I _am _a better choice, no matter what." Yeah, right. If the prize chose the winner instead of Crimonti, he got mad and just killed the winner, because he couldn't stand anybody turning him down. She knew as much from the reports she had read when she was still on Earth.

"Yes, Sir." He stood up from his bed and stepped into Kate's personal space, lifted a finger to trace it over her lips and down her neck.

"You're a very pretty lady, Kate. I hope you understand what you're in for." She felt like throwing up. She didn't like this man's hands anywhere near her, so she stepped away from him.

"With all do respect, Sir, I hope _you _understand what _you_ are in for." With these words she walked away and back to her bedroom.

Where the hell was the police? She wasn't going to be able to do this on her own.

* * *

Richard woke up with a startled breath. He had this dream about a woman and if he didn't know any better, he would swear it was Kate. He couldn't even make out her face, but there was just _something _about her, something that drew him towards her.

He put his head in his hands and sighed. He wasn't sure before, but now he knew what he was going to do.

He was going to save Kate. No matter what.

* * *

Jim was pacing through his apartment, now knowing what to do, not knowing who to ask for help. He wanted Kate back. He couldn't lose her. He lost his wife to the claws of a murderer, but he wasn't going to let Kate leave him.

He jumped at the sound of the doorbell and looked at the screen next to the door. The camera showed a tall man with his hands in his pockets, who was looking down at the floor. He opened the door carefully and was found face-to-face with a man who kicked him out of his house.

"Mr. Castle," he said calmly, hoping deep in his heart that he had changed his mind.

"Hello, Sir. I'm – Can I come in? It's private." Jim let him in and locked the door.

"Thank you," Rick started, but the man lifted up his hand and stopped him from continuing.

"Look, Mr. Castle. You better go straight to the point, because I'm not keen on being close to a man who's guilty that my daughter's not going to be saved." Rick swallowed and put his hands in his jeans pockets, tried to formulate his response.

"I'm sorry about yesterday. I know that I've been –"

"A jackass?"

"Yeah, um…Yeah, I can go with jackass. Look, I've thought about it, really and I've decided to participate in the battle. You were right. If it was my daughter, I would have done the same thing." Jim slumped down in a chair and closed his eyes.

"Thank you," he choked out, obviously relieved that Richard has decided to do it.

"There's just one thing. You said she's an intergalactic detective, so I want two detectives from the IGP in my starship team. You probably know her colleagues, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Well, that's just the thing I need. And those $ 15 000 you offered to me?"

"Yes, what about them?"

"Well, let's just say you're going to finance the new power fields for the starship."

"I thought you were rich."

"I should be, but I'm not. Believe me, racing industry is nothing like they make it out to be."

* * *

**So, how was it? Good, bad? I'd love some reviews to let me know if it's okay.  
****I hope you've read the part where Kate has to tell Crimonti the rules, because that part is important if you want to follow the rest of the story. **

**Otherwise, I hope you liked the chapter.**

The next one won't be up so quickly, though. 

**- Ariela **


	3. Chapter 3

**So, I'm back. I kind of found this strange, but efficient rhythm with which I write stories. There are still some one shots that are not finished yet and more stories promised and half of them half-written, but for now, I'm focusing on this one and High School Love. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. (:  
****Enjoy!**

* * *

"These are intergalactic detectives Kevin Ryan and Javier Esposito. Detectives, this is Richard Castle," Jim introduced them and stood close as they shook hands.

"So," Richard started, carefully observing the two detectives, "you two are in my new team, huh?" They nodded and he smiled.

"It's nice of you to help your colleague."

"Well, she _is _like our big sister," Ryan said and Castle nodded solemnly.

"Of course, I understand. No…Other romantic connections otherwise?" He didn't even know why he'd asked it. It wasn't – it couldn't be jealousy, because he didn't even know Kate and he -

"You know damn well that the IGP doesn't allow it," Esposito spat out and took a step towards Richard. He put his hands up in defense as his eyes widened.

"Wow, what's – what's up, bro?"

"Nothing," he gritted through his teeth.

"You sure? You and Kate had some romantic involvement, maybe?" he asked him, curious as to why he would react this way if they didn't.

"No, oh God, man, really?" he immediately said and shook his head.

"No, no, that's just wrong, she's like my older sister, no way man." Richard's amused eyes looked at Ryan and he shrugged his shoulders.

"He's in a relationship with a IGP medic," he told him and Richard had to hold back a laugh.

"Thank you for telling this life-threatening fact to a complete stranger, bro. And here I thought we were partners," Esposito said and crossed his arms on his chest.

"We are."

"No shit, Sherlock." Richard cleared his throat and both men looked at him.

"Sorry," Ryan said.

"Okay, so I'm going to need to know everything about the place where the battle is occurring and the battle itself, how the track looks and so on. Also, I'm going to need to know everything about Crimonti's place, if I could maybe slip out of the game and rescue her if she doesn't choose me when she has a chance. Deal?" The detectives nodded and scribbled it down on their hand computers.

"Do you already have your team?" Jim asked suddenly. Richard had almost forgotten that he was there with them, too.

"Yeah, I'll – I'll bring in my old crew. I'm not going anywhere without them."

* * *

"Taco!" The man turned around and instantly smiled as he saw his Captain.

"Captain!"

"Oh please, we're not on board yet, it's Castle." Richard's arms went around his team's engineer.

"How have you been?"

"Not as great as when I raced with you." Richard grinned and clapped the man's shoulder, then turned to introduce him to the newest members of his team. As they finished with the introductions, they heard the doorbell ring and the rest of the team waltzed in; Rob, his mechanic, Marie, his pilot/co-pilot and Nia, the one who had everything to do with computers and programming.

"As of today," Richard told them, "we get a few new additions to the team. These two IG detectives and apparently also a medic should join us, though I don't know when –"

"I'm already here, sorry for being late," a woman called from the doorway and her eyes lightened up when she saw Esposito. He stepped forward and kissed her cheek.

"Hola, chica."

"Hey. So what, are we gonna do this or not? I got a girlfriend to save."

* * *

"Castle!"

"Yeah?"

"Where does this go?" Richard looked down from the roof of the spaceship to see Ryan standing there with a steel bar in his hand. They were all putting finishing touches to the ship and Esposito and Ryan decided to help as much as they could.

"Where did Taco tell you to put it?"

"I don't know, he didn't say anything," Ryan shrugged and Richard rolled his eyes.

"Open the panel in front of you and situate the bar between the first and the second motor." Ryan disappeared for a second and then nodded as his work was finished. Well, the guys had plenty to learn, but they will, eventually, and they were only supposed to protect the team, anyway.

* * *

"So Jim, when are we going to see how your daughter looks like? Some of us still don't know," Rob asked as the team was cooling down in Richard's living room.

"Yeah, that's true, Jim. I still don't know who I am supposed to save." The old man pulled a picture out of his pocket, an old one by the looks of it. He passed it to Nia, who was sitting nearest to him.

"Wow, she's really pretty," she said and gave the picture to Rob. As soon as he saw the hostage, he whistled and passed the picture to Marie and then Taco, all of them saying how pretty she was. Jim nodded.

"She got the looks after her mom," he said sadly. Just then, the picture wandered into Richard's hands and his mouth opened as soon as he saw her. She wasn't pretty. She was _beautiful_. She was smiling in the picture, her cheekbones sharp but soft at the same time. There was a glint in her eyes like Richard hadn't seen in anybody else.

"Rick?" he suddenly heard Jim's voice and he looked up at him, then back down at the picture.

"She's beautiful, Jim. How – how old is she in this picture?"

"It was shot just a year ago for her 32nd birthday. She – she was happy that day. Usually she just put all her energy into her work and all, but last year she just let it all go and we enjoyed it."

"That's really nice," Richard said and Jim nodded, nostalgia all over his face.

"Yes. You can keep the picture. So you won't forget how she looks." Richard nodded. He wasn't sure he'll ever be able to forget her.

"Okay," the Captain suddenly exclaimed and rubbed his hands, "let's get this show on the road!"

* * *

"Jim, I'd like you to meet my daughter, Alexis." Jim smiled at the sight of the young teenager and shook her hand.

"Nice to meet you. I've heard a lot of good things about you."

"Really?"

"Yes," he confirmed and Alexis grinned at her father, hugged him.

"I'm going to miss you, Dad."

"I'll miss you too, pumpkin. But I'll be back, ok?"

"Okay."

"I'm sorry, Alexis," Jim said suddenly and both Castles turned to him.

"For what?"

"For doing this. I know I…Your father could choose to not go, but he didn't and I am really so grateful for that. And I'm sorry I'm putting his life and everyone on his team in danger, because of my daughter, I –"

"It's okay, Sir. I'd do the same thing. Don't worry. My father is a really good racer, he'll come back to me." Jim smiled at the redhead and nodded with teary eyes.

"Thank you."

* * *

"Goodbye, Dad," Alexis said and threw her arms around her father's neck.

"Bye, pumpkin. I promise to call okay?"

"Just not in the middle of the race, please. Look out for yourself, okay?"

"I will, don't worry. You know me."

"Yeah, that's exactly what I am afraid of."

"Hey now!" She chuckled and kissed his cheek, pulled back to look him in the eyes.

"I love you."

"I love you too, honey."

"Come back to me."

"I will."

* * *

"Rob, how are the engines looking?" Richard asked over the speaker.

"Looking good, Captain. We're ready to go."

"Okay then, off we fly."

The starship roared to life and left a hopeful Jim Beckett and Alexis Castle behind.

* * *

**I'm not entirely satisfied with this one, but it doesn't matter, because we're getting closer to the chapter where Kate and Rick first meet and I'm looking forward to that one. (;**

**Let me know what you think. **

**Ariela**


End file.
